Though the Mets lost this game in pretty listless fashion, there was one spectacular highlight. The Captain, David Wright, made his first game appearance in more than two years and received a standing ovation.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Wright stepped to the plate, seeming as nervous as a rookie. The cameras panned the crowd, all on the feet, and settled on the image of Wright’s adorable two-year-old daughter, Olivia, pointing to her dad. Wright swung at the first pitch fastball from Jose Urena and grounded out to the third baseman, but it was enough to elicit a big smile from the player and his teammates, who greeted him with high fives and hugs in the dugout as the crowd roared in support of the fan favorite. Everyone loves a comeback.
A comeback of a different variety was never in the cards in this game however. Urena put plenty of runners on base with four walks and five hits in his six innings of work, but the Mets couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities afforded them. The Mets’ lone run came in the first inning on an RBI single from Amed Rosario. The Mets couldn’t muster a single hit against three Marlins relievers, but the team did all it could to make life impossible for Corey Oswalt and the bullpen as the defense made three errors that contributed to the Marlins scoring attack. The Marlins were led by Miguel Rojas (4 hits), a career .253 hitter who turns into Cal Ripken, Jr. against the Mets.
Oswalt allowed just one run in four innings, but drove up his pitch count with three walks. Prior to the game, it was announced that Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman would not pitch again this season so Oswalt was relieved by Paul Sewald (terrible as usual), Drew Gagnon (awful), Jacob Rhame (showing promise of late) and Tim Peterson (good tonight, but usually horrible). All four of those relievers have season ERAs over 5 and will need to work hard in the off-season to try to earn a spot in the 2019 bullpen.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Wright’s last hurrah with Steven Matz making his final start of the season.
Yes, tonight is must see, even the pregame starting at 6.
The Mets bullpen sure is for laughs. When you look at some of these performances, how can we be afraid of a “roster crunch”? Rhame is better when he throws more change ups and stops trying to impress batters with his 98mph, straight as a string fastball.
Loved the lineup at the top and wish Nimmo was at the top months ago, but Rosario batting fifth was hysterical. Rosario belongs first in lineup construction, Nimmo second and McNeil third, but to avoid the logjam of lefties, would it be too much to bat him second and move Bruce to #5?